Zootopia - The Blue Wolf
by nothani
Summary: Nick Wilde is haunted by his criminal past and is forced to do whatever it takes to keep those he cares about safe from one of the most dangerous animals out there.
1. Heed My Warning

**ZOOTOPIA**  
 **THE BLUE WOLF**

 _A story by misshowel/wiwolf/craptastics/nothani_

 _Two months have passed since the Bellwether conspiracy was uncovered. The resilient mammals of Zootopia eventually settle back into their old lives, their old ways. A new mayor is appointed through a fairly mellow election; Aurelina Canidae, an honorable former councilwoman. The city felt secure with such a friendly, chubby wolf as their mayor, especially with how she instantly began working towards a long-lasting unification between predator and prey._

 _As for Nick and Judy, it was business as usual. Judy had been showing Nick the ropes and the pair of them had been continually working minor cases and solving them fairly effectively. Things were going smoothly._

 _The rings on the surface had faded. The pebble had sank to the bottom, never to disturb the river again. As they say, a river always corrects itself.._

 _..Unless it freezes over._

With a twitch of her nose, Judy was flipping the page of a file folder she was currently holding. Leaning her cheek heavily in her paw, her eyes skittered across the page, taking in the information as quickly as possible. It was the initial statement from an ox who'd stolen someone elses' car and then crashed it into a public fountain and she wanted to make sure she'd read it properly before questioning the ox. Every day happenings in the bustling city of Zootopia; she'd for the most part gone numb to the stupid antics of Zootopians. Last week, a group of teenagers had in the middle of the night gone out, bought a dozen pumpkins, carved them and pushed them onto street lights. Her eyes rolled with a small amused smile at the fleeting thought.

Nick had swept in from the cafeteria into her cubicle office, holding two cups of coffee, smirking as he slid one of the cups towards her.

"Thinking about the pumpkin massacre?" A snort of a laugh left the bunny and she leaned back in her seat, a cheeky smile aimed at the fox.

"How'd you even _know_ that?"

"I know everything Carrots, you oughta know that by now." He teased, parking his butt on her desk, leaning back on one arm as he took a sip of his coffee, as relaxed as usual. Judy let out a puff of air through her nose with a smile, putting down the folder.

"Oh yeah?" There was mischief in her voice as she moved to sit on the back rest of her chair, her paws on the actual seat.

"Then, what's my favorite color?" She could hear a swig of coffee almost going down wrong for the fox in a brief splurt. Nick's eyes narrowed as he gave her a side glance of pure contemplation. A silence fell between them, and she could swear that if she were to look in his ears, she would've been able to see cogs turning.

"Blueberry?"

"Nick that's **your** favorite. Not even color, just favorite fruit!"

"Okay, _orange_ then!" Nick proclaimed, throwing out his free hand in a bit of a fake 'I don't actually care' gesture.

"What's _with_ you and fruit colors?"

"Now that you mention it, heh, orange. Isn't that weird? It's not like we call 'yellow' 'banana' or something stupid like that." Nick took a sip of his coffee, taking his eyes off the bunny for a moment. However, the silence made an ear of his swivel towards her, his eyes soon to follow. Judy had the worst pokerface. She was sipping her coffee, looking away, acting as though it was raining. Only thing missing was her whistling a tune and the bad-pokerface-trifecta would be complete.

"Really, **yellow**? _That's_ your favorite color?" He huffed out a chuckle, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, trying to hold back a smirk.

" _Actually_ " Judy dragged, an absent-minded paw stroking back and down one of her ears. "It's more like, amber?"

"Huh. The more you know." Nick took another sip of his coffee before taking the folder and opening it up, his eyes scanning the pages.

"You questioning the car thief today?"

"Yeah, you wanna sit in? I had to sit in with the other officers before I got to question suspects on my own." Judy smiled at her friend. He'd come a long way in a short while, she was actually kind of jealous at times. Nick always had such a roll-with-it attitude.

" _Please_ , Carrots. If _anyone_ needs to sit in, it's you, with me. Watch the master in action" He'd placed a paw against his chest like some posh, old-fashioned noble. "and maybe you'll be a _real_ cop one day, like the great, **invincible** , detective Wilde."

Judy swiftly snatched the folder back from him, flipping it in under her arm, jumping off her seat and getting to the doorway in one fluid motion. Leaning against it, she smiled up at the smug fox.

" _Oh yeah_? Well, I'd be honored if the great, _invincible_ detective Wilde could show this poor, inadequate bunny the ropes."

"Will do. Now," He slid off the table, patting her head as he passed her, heading towards the cafeteria. "I shall show you, my feeble pupil, how to trick Clawhauser into giving away all his afternoon doughtnuts."

The rest of the day flowed on like every other day. Clawhauser lost his afternoon doughnuts, only for Judy to convince Nick to give them back. There was a press briefing with the new press manager Rosalind where all officers currently in the building were present. Nick sat in when Judy questioned the ox about the incident, who was then formally charged. Bogo asked for a report on his desk before five. Things kept rolling.

Once he'd clocked out, Nick got out of his uniform in the locker room, getting into his casual getup of a shirt, tie and trousers. One glance left, one right, then a swift lick on his thumb before he brushed it across his badge, making sure it was glistening before he placed it on top of the perfectly folded uniform in his locker.

This was a different kind of pride. He'd always thought himself good at what he did, and he'd always thought himself proud, but oh how wrong he'd been. **This** was what _real_ pride felt like. To be able to walk straight, head held high, to be able to look other mammals in the eye and feel truly equal.

Heaving a content sigh, he clicked the locker door closed before heading outside. Judy was working late, otherwise they usually grabbed a bite to eat before heading home to their separate places. Or to the same place where they'd hang out, watch movies and talk bullshit about life in general. It was a good life. A completely new life.

Or.. Not completely new.

After walking a couple of blocks and taking a turn into an alley, he slammed his paw against the side of the familiar, grafitti-covered van.

"Ey Finnick! You awake?"

He could hear a groan, a shuffle, a clank and some choice swearwords. Nick shifted his weight onto one foot, contently waiting until Finnick finally opened the door.

"Get in." Nick's brow furrowed and he climbed into the van, which Finnick promptly shut behind him.

"Hey hey hey, what's the grim look for?" Finnick was moving swiftly, checking the windows before making sure the curtains were pulled properly. Then he shot a glance at the confused red fox.

"I know you ain't rolling with our kind no more, but-" Nick huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Finnick come on, that's not-"

"Shut up Nick. I was gonna say, **but** , I'mma do you a solid. 'Cause we're friends. You're a wanted fox, Nick Wilde."

"Eh, Finnick, I'm a cop now. I'm _pretty sure_ I'm not wanted, or Bogo would've told me." There was a smug smile pulling at those lips of his, something that made Finnick's whole face scrunch up in an irritated, frustrated look as he grabbed his friends' tie, pulling him down to eye-level.

"You're wanted **dead** , Nick, this ain't no fucking joke!" Finnick snarled out the words, a concern hidden beneath the apparent anger. Nick stared at his friend, blinking as though that would clear his own confusion. Then his puzzled expression shifted into a concerned frown. Noticing the changed attitude, Finnick let the tie slip through his fingers, the anger seeping away to leave room for more concern.

"The hell did you do, you dumb fox? You got Alexei looking for ya!"

"Volkov?" Was all Nick managed to get out.

"Yeah, Volkov. _The_ Alexei Volkov!" Finnick's entire body language was demanding answers, he was not going to let Nick leave before he knew everything. "There I am, down in the tundra corner club aight? And I hear these yak idiots talking 'bout getting massive cred with the big bad wolf if they took you down!"

Nick's paws went up, moving as if pushing the air as he shook his head. "Okay, wait, slow down. Wait." Straightening out, his paws subconsciously went up to stroke back boths of his ears, dragging heavily down his neck and lacing together behind it.

"Okay, this might be a problem." The twitching tail behind Nick was evidence of his mind working a million miles an hour.

"What the hell did you do, Nick?"

Sucking in a deep breath, the red fox slumped down onto the floor of the van, his tail sweeping restlessly. Why now. What could possibly have piqued the wolfs' interest again. It'd been so long, he thought Volkov had simply cut his losses.

"You want the long story or the short version?"

Finnick let out an unimpressed snort, sitting down opposite of Nick.

"Give me the jist of it."

Nick sighed, scratching idly at the back of his neck, clearly reluctant to revisit the memory. His mouth opened a couple of times, sucking in air but failing to produce any words. A snort snort later, Nick finally cleared his throat and began talking.

"A few years back, before I ran with you, I ran with this badger guy. Heck, can't even remember his name. Anyway, he always had jobs for me, they came from someone else."

"So you were running blind errands?"

"Yeah, well, sort of. It wasn't like we were running catnip to and from the rainforest disctrict. Nah, this was heavier stuff. Sabotage, mostly. Money was good." Finnick had moved to open up a bottle of whiskey, pouring Nick a glass and offering it to him. Grasping the glass, Nick took a generous swig. It burned down his throat and a shiver ran through him. Swiping the back of his hans across his nose, he sucked in a short, sharp breath though it. Letting out a light cough, he swirled the amber liquid around in his glass.

"One day" He continued, clearly not looking forward to telling the rest of the story. "This guy I've been doing all this, stuff with, comes to me. With a plan. We were going to do this one job - super simple job, he told me -to get the attention of Volkov. It'd be our ticket to wealth, to infamy. Our ticket out of the gutter." Nick forced down another swig of whiskey, barely tasting it before it heated his insides.

"He told me to get two tanks of gasoline. Fine, I thought. I mean, we'd burned cars before, I didn't think much of it, other that it had to be a, really big car, or something." He swallowed a burp and then cleared his throat. Finnick rolled his eyes.

"You're an idiot."

"I was, at least."

"Sure, _was_..." Finnick grinned before shifting back to a more serious expression. "So, you what were you actually gonna burn?"

"An apartment." Nick's gaze lowered to his glass, back to the amber liquid, for a moment recalling that _this_ must be Judy's favorite color. It managed to make him smile, if only for a brief moment, before the story caught up with him. "So we're there... Escape plan ready, gasoline in hand, and I'm dousing the floor, the furniture, the stove... All while thinking of the money, the street cred, the bragging rights... That's when I hear it."

"Hear what?" Finnicks' large ears were perked straight up, eyes fixadet on his friend.

"A yawn. It was faint, but I heard it. I told the guy I was with, this would be murder. There's a mammal in the apartment." The grip on his glass tightened, the ridge of his nose scrunching up ever to slightly.

"He just hissed at me to not screw this up for him." Ears flat against his head, his tail was almost curling over itself in relived anger.

"So I did the first thing I could think of when I saw him pull out the lighter. I screamed **fire** , I screamed it as loud as I could before I took off. Like a coward. I just, ran. To save my own hide." His posture relaxed as a sigh slipped out.

"Sure, thanks to the warning, the guy got out in time. Fire department got there quickly, the fire didn't even have time to spread to another apartment. The guy I was with got arrested, took the fall for it."

"Why didn't he sell you out?" Nick jerked his shoulders in a lackluster shrug.

"He did. But I went by the nickname Pib back in those days, he didn't know my real name. The evidence of me being there had burned, and I'd gone deep, **deep** underground."

"And then you turned up later as a small-time hustler."

"Yeah... No big, risky business for me. Pib was dead."

"Shit Nick.." Finnick's sharp anger was all but gone, a mix of worry and disappointment swirling about in his voice.

"Yeah.. I know."

"You know what Volkov does, right? To mammals who wrong him?" Nicks' gaze lifted from the glass to fall on Finnick.

"I'm a dead fox?"

"Not first. He's gonna go after those you love." The severity of the situation finally sank in. It wasn't just his life on the line. Alexei Volkov was notoriously sadistic. That was part of why he'd gone so deep underground for so long after the incident, he knew if he got caught he would've faced unimaginable suffering. Now that all seemed trivial, facing the very real risk of it not being **him** on the receiving end, but instead someone he cared for. _Someone like Judy._

"I can't let him take Judy!" Nick had lept to his feet, the glass clinking against the floor of the van, spilling what little was left in. The thought of the sinister wolf having someone as kind and whole-heartedly good as Judy in his filthy, blood-stained paws, it was enough to get his blood boiling. "Over my dead body is he harming a single strand of fur on her body!"

"Easy!" Finnick grabbed Nick by his wrists, yanking on his arms to get his attention. A low rumbling growl could be heard from the agitated fox, but once Finnick dug his claws into Nicks' skin, he snapped out of it.

"What?!"

"Calm, your, fluff." Nicks' tail and neck fur was standing on end in anger and he had to take a few deep breaths in order to simmer down. He needed to think clearly about this, he couldn't do anything useful in a fit of rage.

"There we go. Now, 'bout this knee-deep shithole you've jumped into like the idiot fox you are,"

Nick rolled his eyes with a snort. "Geez, thanks."

".. You gotta think 'bout this. Aight?"

"Yeah." Nick relaxed and Finnick finally released his wrists, which Nick instinctively rubbed. For such a small fox, Finnick sure had an iron grip.

"They probably know 'bout you knowing Judy. But they probably don't know _how well_ you know each other."

"What're you getting at?"

"Dude, you gotta ditch the fuzz."

"What?!" Nick snarled out the words, he'd just gotten a good life. He had a good thing going, with a really good friend, he wasn't about to give that up.

"She's as dead as you if you keep hanging 'round! They got their eyes on you now. For whatever reason, your fox ass in on their radar!" Finnick almost drilled his finger into Nicks' belly, enforcing his point. Nick groaned and tugged at his ears, his mind racing to find another solution. Then, a pause. His ears slowly began to perk up as he drew a slow breath, eyes staring into nothingness.

"I need to take him down." The words were but a whisper in a breath.

" _Excuse_ me?"

"I need to take down Volkov." Nick appeared as though he'd just had a vision or something, slowly straightening out, his brain working more effectively on what to do now that he'd calmed down a smidgen. There was even a hint of a smile twitching a his lips.

"And how the hell are you gonna do that? He's got an entire empire at his back!" Finnick had folded his arms, tapping a paw against the floor of the van, a bit irritated with how simple Nick was making this sound. Taking down a crime boss like Volkov was nothing one did in an afternoon.

"Don't know yet," Nick held up a finger, a strangely excited look in his eyes. "But I will. Volkov won't even know what hit him." Nick smacked his hands together in a celebratory rub, grinning. "Oh, he is not going to know what hit him."

"Nick! It ain't gonna be no afternoon stroll y'know! This is a dangerous mammal, he _will_ kill you!"

"And he'll kill Judy if I don't stop him." Nick locked eyes with his friend, the glee suddenly exchanged for a determined look. "I will not, let her be harmed." His fists were clenched, as if expecting his friend to try and stop him. Finnick raised an eyebrow as he looked Nick over before heaving a sigh. Once Nick got an idea in his head, it was no use arguing with him.

"Alright, fine. But don't involve me. I warned ya, that's all I'm gonna do. I don't feel like being flayed alive." Moving to open the back of the van, the fennec fox held the door open for Nick to get out. "Ya'll are welcome back once the coast is clear. I ain't gonna risk my hide."

Slipping out of the van, Nick offered his partner in crime a quick salute with a slanted grin.

"No worries partner, I got this." With a roll of his eyes, Finnick slammed the van doors shut.

Meeting over. Nick turned to leave the alley, heading back home with a lot on his mind. Behind him he could hear the engine revving, and throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, he could see it driving off. Most likely out of the city. Finnick had always been keen on the phrase 'better safe than sorry'. He was most likely not going to be coming back for a while.

The thought gave him pause, and he turned around to watch the colorful van drive off into the distance. A friend was leaving their home because of him. If he wasn't careful, a friend could lose their life because of him. Looking at his hands, he frowned slightly. How was he ever going to solve this? He was but one fox. He was clever, but these were way deeper waters than he'd ever gone into before. There wasn't much choice though - if he involved Judy or the ZPD into the investigation, so many things could go wrong. For one, he'd have to admit to being an accomplice in an attempted murder through arson. Two, it'd be the same as painting a nice, big bullseye on the ZPD and Judy in particular, if he opened an official case about Alexei Volkov.

Even the mere thought of the name sent an unpleasantly cold, almost heavy shudder through his body. He'd heard plenty of stories of Volkov to know that he was not one to be trifled with. Even the Big family couldn't touch him - and they practically ran all of Zootopia's underground at one point in time. Now, he had no idea. Volkov could have slowly slithered into the city's power structure, leeching from it without notice. Who knew how far he could've gotten in these past years.

Eventually, Nick noticed that other mammals were looking at him funny, as he was just standing on the sidewalk, staring into space. The van was long gone by now; most likely for the best. Scratching the back of an ear, he turned to head on home. There was no two ways about it; in order to ensure that Volkov wouldn't target the ZPD or Judy, he most likely had to get himself fired.

The next day, his phone rang early as usual. As soon as he heard the familiar Judy-assigned tune, a knot as heavy as lead weighed in his stomach. Grabbing his phone, his thumb hovered over the swipe which would answer the call. He found himself simply staring at the joyful image of Judy on his phone, almost forgetting to breathe as his ears flattened against his head. This wouldn't feel good. It wouldn't even feel justified. However, it was the only way. Here goes.

Sucking in a deep breath, he swiped his thumb, accepting the call and raising the phone to his ear. "What."

There was a moments pause from the other end.

"Oh, geez, did the fox wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?" It already felt terrible, but he had to stick to it.

"You know I don't really like it. You, calling this early."

"What? Oh, well.." He could hear her worried hesitation, and it stung. "I, was just calling to check if you'd want to grab a coffee before work!" It was apparent that she had to force her usual peppy voice.

"No, I don't want coffee. I need to get ready for work." With those words, he hung up, smacking the phone down on his nightstand and burying his face in his palms with a pained groan.

That didn't feel like trying to save his friend, that felt like being an asshole to the one that least deserves it. Stroking his palms over his ears, he fell backwards onto the bed with a grunt.

"I can't do this." It felt hopeless. How could he continue? She wouldn't understand that it's for her own good. Dragging his palms over his face, another but louder and more frustrated groan left him.

"Rrrrrhhhh but I **have** to! What's me being a jerk, compared to her being dead? _Nothing_!" Nick threw up his arms as though he was having an argument with the ceiling before they slumped back down onto his chest. Sighing deeply, he glanced over at his phone. This was going to be harder than he thought, but he had to stick to it.

Getting dressed took far longer than usual. So did eating breakfast, and brushing his teeth. Perhaps he was postponing the inevitable. He had to be an ass, at work. How did one even get fired from the ZPD, without actually committing a crime? He didn't want to go down that road, he'd avoid it as far as he could. Looking about his apartment, he couldn't help but smile. Judy had been there just the other night. They'd eaten tacos and played video games until they both passed out on the couch. Judy had woken up underneath the couch cushions; apparently sleep-burrowing is a thing bunnies do. It was kind of cute. Sighing shortly, he turned and got out, locking the door behind him.

Nick always took the bus to work. Two separate bus lines, but it got him to work in just under halv an hour. In between the two lines, where he got off to switch, there was a coffee shop. That's where he and Judy got coffee in the morning, at least every other day. Now, he barely dared to throw a glance that way, but instead directly got onto the next bus. He needed more time to prepare for the day.

Time always seems to slip away, when you need it most.

"There you are, you little foxy!" Clawhauser greeted Nick with enthusiasm, leaning over his desk with his chin in his palms.

"Did you and Judy have a fight?" Nick rolled his eyes, Clawhauser was a bit too into gossip to realize when it was appropriate to be excited by it.

"No. Now get off my case, fatso." Heading directly to the locker room, Nick didn't look back at the somewhat distraught cheetah. Burying his hands in his pockets, he marched on to the locker room, avoiding eye contact with all and any he happened to pass by.

Usually he couldn't wait to get into his uniform. The badge was as shiny as he'd left it the day before, but now, it almost made him feel ashamed. After all, he was nothing but a crook. That was the entire reason why he was having to behave this way. He'd just hurt Ben's feelings, just because of his own past, which was coming back to haunt him.

"Okay, here goes." He'd never felt less worthy of wearing the proud uniform and badge of the ZPD, but still, he had to face the rest of the day this way. Heading towards his cubicle office, he thought about maybe just being an incompetent ass could be enough to get fired. He could file his paperwork all wrong, he could forget to read the rights, he could compromise evidence on accident..

"Hey, hi, Nick..!" He snapped out of his train of thought as Judy's voice reached his ears. For a moment, he just wanted to tell her everything, ask for her help, and tell her how sorry he was for being a jerk. Once that initial instinct had passed, he let out a short snort, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hi. What do you want." Judy withdrew her previously waving hand, holding it to her chest for a moment.

"What..? Nick, what's wrong? I'm sorry if I woke you-"

"Look, I ain't got all day, fluff. What do you want?" Judy wore a concerned frown as she looked up at her friend, her ears drooping behind her. She didn't know what'd gotten into him, maybe he was just having a... Really bad day.

"Well, uh, oh!" She raised a finger with a smile, trying to stay her peppy old self. "Bogo says there's a string of vandalism all around the city and he needs some cop to look into it. I got Tundra Town, you in? Like old days, investigating in the freezing cold!"

"No." Judy blinked a few times, tilting her head slightly to the side, taken aback by the response. "No?" Her voice was hesitant, as though she was bracing herself.

"No. N-O. Are all bunnies dumb or is it just you?" Nick snorted with disdain and headed on past her.

"Go find someone else to freeze their fur off." Judy watched her friend and partner walk off with a look of disbelief. This wasn't at all like him. Was he sick? Why was he acting like this? Her nose was twitching involuntarily and she eventually had to rub her palms over her face and give herself a light smack on the cheek.

"Am I dreaming?" Pinching her skin, she could indeed feel pain. "Nope, not a dream." Her ears perked back up, watching the hallway through which Nick had walked away from her. She didn't really know how to feel about this. Hurt by his obvious insults? Shocked by his sudden change in attitude? Or worried, that there could be something more serious behind this. Narrowing her eyes, there was a look of mixed emotions in them, but with a definite amount of determination.

"I _am_ going to find out whatever's gotten into you, you dumb fox."


	2. Mind Maze

Judy thought she'd been puzzled back in Bunnyburrow when trying to learn the names of everyone at the Hopps family reunion, but now she knew what it felt like to be _truly_ confused. It was as though **nothing** made sense regarding Nick anymore. He shunned her like she had the plague, every time she tried talking to him he'd blow up and storm off. She'd gone over it in her head a thousand times these past few days, trying to think of _anything_ that could've prompted Nick to start behaving this way. She'd practically cross-examined the entire ZPD in search for clues to Nick's demeanor, she'd even gone so far as to call her own parents to check that her dad hadn't accidentally set the fox off.

Nothing. _It just didn't add up._

An ear flicked towards the sound of Bogo's stern voice. It was nothing but a dull echo in the lobby that had managed to escape the confines of Bogo's office on the top floor. Given the circumstances, she had a fairly good guess about who was getting chewed out for the fifth time this week. It couldn't wait, she had to catch him, talk some sense into that friend of hers. Dumping her folders on Clawhausers' desk, Judy swiftly leapt up onto the banisters of the stairs, futher up onto the opposite banister, flipping back and then finally up onto the top floor railing before planting her paws firmly on the floor and marching towards Bogo's office.

The closer she got however, the more troubled her expression became. Bogo didn't sound like just his irritated, scolding self. No, this was throwing her back to her first day in the ZPD. There was a kind of disgust in his booming voice that she hadn't heard in a long time. She barely noticed the fact she'd stopped approaching the door to just listen in silence and disbelief.

"If I didn't know any better, _fox_ , I'd say you're doing this just to get under my skin!" There was a thunk from inside, Bogo had probably slammed something onto the desk.

"Yeah, well, maybe I am! Maybe I'm sick of you and your.. Face!" Judy frowned with a bit of a scrunched up nose. What a strange insult.

" _Mr_. Wilde" Bogo seemed to be speaking through gritted teeth, desperate to keep his composure. " In light of your, sudden **incompetence** , to work in a team and do your **job** , I have no choice but to let, you, **go**."

" **Fine!** I didn't want to work for your stupid ass anyway. Screw **all** of you!" Judy had only just reached for the door to protest the whole situation when it was practically kicked open as Nick stormed out, tossing his police cap into a nearby trash can.

"Nick, _wait_!" She was mid-step when Bogo grabbed onto her shoulder to stop her from going after the fox, who'd hurriedly made his way down to the lobby and out the door. Yanking her shoulder free, she turned to glare up at the massive animal in front of her.

"You _fired_ him?! How could you _do_ that?!" Bogo's previous anger seemed like it had just washed away from him. He knew how close Nick and Judy were, and he was not going to make light of the situation.

"Judy, I'm sorry, but there was nothing else I could do." His voice had fallen to a mellow tone as he placed his hands together, as if cuffed. "My hands are tied by protocol. An officer who cannot do their job, who cannot work with others, is not allowed to remain an officer."

"But this isn't him, you **know** that..!" What was she even pleading for? Work had been exhausting this past week because of Nick, that she couldn't deny. Clawhauser hadn't been himself either, apparently Nick had been quite cruel to him.

"It's just.. It's not _like_ him, there's, there's _got_ to be a reason..!" Judy stroked her hands down her ears, looking at the floor as she was thinking. Bogo sank down to one knee, getting down as close to eye-level as he could to the small rodent, placing a heavy but gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe there is. But I have a responsibility to make sure my officers are content and capable at work. Nick made that impossible. I had, no, choice." Judy raised her gaze to look her boss sadly in the eyes. He was right. His hands were tied, there was nothing he could've done but fire her friend and partner.

" _However,_ " Judy's ears perked up as Bogo once again spoke while getting up. "I won't stop you from trying to find the reason, if there is one. Have a good day, officer Hopps." With those words, he returned to his office, shutting the door behind him. Judy's hands curled into fists and she straightened out, giving herself a nod.

"I **am** going to find out what his reason is." Rushing over to the trash can, she pulled out Nicks' cap, dusting it off and looking at it with a bit of a curious smile.

"What are you up to, _that's_ the question." With a grin, Judy made a great leap onto the lobby booth roof and down onto the floor, Nicks' cap firmly in hand, throwing a quick 'sorry for startling you' to Clawhauser who'd all but jumped out of his skin at the sudden bang of someone landing on the sphere roof above him.

This was just another case, wasn't it? Just one that involved a friend. A mystery in need of unraveling, a maze of the mind she just _had_ to get through. Judy couldn't help but grin as she made a leap into a corner, kicking off the wall and heading further down the corridor, bouncing off the walls to make swift turns. She had no patience to simply walk. This was important. This was even sort of exciting! In a, nervous kind of way.

"Mr. Filcher!" The bunny had thrown the door of the computer-lit room wide open, letting it smack back against the wall, a noise sudden enough to nearly startle the raccoon right out of his seat.

"M-m-miss- I mean Officer Hopps!" He blurted out as he spun around his chair to face her, eyes wide with surprise. It was rare for anyone to visit his office. He quickly checked his clothes, good, they were on right, no coffee stains or nothing. Looking back at the bunny, he smiled a quivering smile, apparently a bit nervous about her bursting into his space.

"What can I-"

"How'd you feel about solving a mystery?" She'd zipped up right in front of him, holding Nick's cap with a wide smile. The raccoon blinked, looking from the cap to the bunny, cap to bunny, before tipping his head slightly to the side with knitted brows.

"Is this about Officer Wilde?" Judy nodded excitedly, her eyes never leaving the other as he got up to close the door she'd slammed open.

"He's been a bit... _Different_?" His voice peaked at the word different, unsure if it was appropriate for him to even comment on someone so close to the bunny. Judy simply raised an eyebrow.

"Different is a _bit_ of an understatement, don't you think, Mr. Filcher?"

"Please, Kyle."

"Kyle." Judy smiled, she hadn't actually thought to ask his first name before. Everyone just went by their surname, it seemed. "Kyle, _different_ is an understatement. It's like he's gone completely **bonkers**!"

The choice of word got a snort of a chuckle out of the raccoon and he returned to his seat, clearing his desktop screen, assuming Judy was needing his digital help.

"True. So, what can I do for you, Officer Hopps?"

"Judy." She grinned, placing the cap on the desk.

"Right. So what can I do for you, Judy?" Kyle smiled a bit, his small ears perked up, intrigued by this mystery.

"Well I figured, since you're our tech guy,"

"Technical analyst, yes."

"So _that's_ what it's called!" She snapped her fingers in a sweeping motion. "Everyone always just says tech guy, why _is_ that?" Judy peered curiously at the raccoon, who seemed to become a bit flustered by the whole situation.

"I, I _think_ it's because it's shorter." He quickly cleared his throat. "You were saying..?"

"Right! Since you're our technical analyst, you can dig up things about people's past, right?" There was such a happy chirp in her voice, and she couldn't really stay still, bouncing ever so slightly up and down, her fingertips weighing on the edge of the desk. "Like you do with suspects to find connections and such?"

"Yes, that's, pretty much my job. I, dive into the data that's accumulated on the web, I, uh, dig it up and distribute it to the relevant officers... Why do you ask?" He jolted as Judy quickly leaned in close.

"I need you to look into Nicks' past." It took a moment for the task to sink in, but once it did, he stared at her in a bit of shock.

"Dig into the past of an officer? I'm not even sure, I mean, am I even allowed to do that? Background checks aren't, I mean, I've got to get the okay from Bogo-"

"Nick isn't an officer anymore. He got fired." The reminder was enough to turn her excitable expression into that of a more somber one, her ears lowering behind her. A silence fell as she stood up, her shoulders a bit slumped. She sucked in a soft, slow breath before speaking again.

"Bogo fired him, because of.. Well, everything."

"I... I'm sorry, I know he was your partner.."

"Yeah," A hand instinctively went up to rub at her own arm, a sigh escaping her. "It's.. Not fun. Everything was going so well, I don't know what's gotten into him." Sucking in a sharp breath through her nose, she straightened up and smacked a fist against the desk.

"And **that's** what I aim to find out!" She turned her steadfast gaze to Kyle. "Will you help me?" Kyle furrowed his brows slightly, watching her as he pondered about it. It was strange, the sudden change in Nicks' behaviour. It wasn't normal, it couldn't just have come out of nowhere. Scratching the back of his head, he then gave a nod with a bit of a smile, his hands returning to his keyboard.

"Alright. So, I dig into Nicks' past?" Judy grinned at his response and gave him a big squeeze of a hug around his neck.

"Yes! **Thank** you!" She hopped back, bouncing from one foot to the other with a big, excited smile on her lips. "Tell me when you find something! I've got work to do!" She had barely finished her sentence before she'd zoomed out of the door, leaping down the hallway towards her office, leaving a rather surprised raccoon to do his work. She was in a hurry, heading through the lobby and towards the offices.

" _Just you wait_ Nick, I'll have you back in no time...-!"

"Judy! Wait!" Judy screeched to a halt as she heard Clawhausers' voice.

"Yeah, what is it Ben?" She automatically dusted off her clothes despite them already being impeccable.

"The Chief wants you to keep working the leads on the vandalism."

"What? But I've got to figure out what's going on with Nick, he said it was fine for me to do that..!" The chubby cheetah didn't seem to enjoy relaying this message, fumbling around with his tie, idly twisting it back and forth.

"Yeah, he says he knows you want to rush off to save ' _that fox_ ' - he said it really angrily too - but, we need you to keep being a cop." Clawhauser promptly handed her a folder, looking a bit uncomfortable with the task of messenger. "Just.. Do what he says Judy, okay?"

Letting out a short snort, Judy reluctantly took the folder. Of course, she shouldn't have expected Bogo to just let her run off and conduct her own private investigation without interference.

"Alright. Thanks, Ben. Take it easy, okay?"

"Are you really going to try and bring Nick back?" His voice was quiet, hesitant. Almost as if he'd become scared of the fox in question. Judy gently placed a paw on his arm, looking at him with intense resolve.

"I **will** , bring him back." She smiled, patting his arm lightly. "And he'll be back to normal, you'll see." Those words seemed to ease the cheetah's mind and he nodded with a smile.

"Good luck, Judy." He meant those words, she could feel it. They made her feel warm, because it meant that despite everything, Ben hadn't given up on Nick. She didn't even think Bogo had given up on him. In her eyes, only one mammal had given up on that sly fox.

 _Nick himself._

Heading towards her office, by now she'd slowed down to a quick-paced walk, flipping through the folder as she moved. It was a list of various names of both mammals and places. It wasn't limited to Tundra Town anymore - it seemed Bogo had given her even more to do. Perhaps that was his way of trying to keep her head in the game. Perhaps it was his way of telling her to let Nick go. There was no way to be sure, but the faster she managed to solve this, the faster she could continue working to solve Nicks' situation.

Her ears swiveled as she read. Apparently it wasn't just vandalism, but threats as well. Some spray-painted onto the side of businesses, some delivered as letters. One even had a dead bird slipped through their mail slot. _Yuck_. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder in this bustling city of Zootopia.

Still, despite all that had happened, she didn't regret coming to Zootopia. Not in the slightest. She'd grown so much as a mammal, and she'd learned so much. Sighing softly, she slipped onto her seat, pulling out a notebook as well as her iconic carrot pen from one of the drawers to begin making notes. Her nose was twitching and ears flicking, evidence of how her mind was racing. Only half her attention was spent on making a list of in which order she should go to the victims, with the goal of saving as much time as possible. The other half was spent on questions. Nagging notions. Suspicious statements. Worried whispers. What if there was nothing to find out?

She smacked down her pen to glare at the wall in front of her.

"No. There **is** something at work here." Using the pens' point to scratch under her own chin, she wore a frown of deep thought, looking down at her notepad. "I've just got to find out _what_." She then swiftly moved to open up a framed photo. It was a picture of her and Nick at his graduation. A faint smile ghosted over her lips before she pulled open a drawer, hurriedly twisting off a piece of tape, flipping over to a blank page and taping the picture to it. Clicking out the point of her pen, she bent over her notebook, scribbling down a new title above the picture.

 _CASE FILE - NICHOLAS P. WILDE._


	3. A Grey Vixen

It was a chill night for downtown Zootopia. The normally mellow nightly weather had given way for a brisk breeze sent by the cloudless night sky. There were no stars up in that vast void, none that could be seen anyway. The city's own ever changing rainbow of lights swallowed those little flickering bodies of starshine.

Nick had popped the collar of his jacket in an attempt to keep the crisp wind from slithering down his spine. His hands were buried in his pockets, ears low and shoulders high up and relatively tense. From a passerby point of view, he simply looked keen to avoid the cold. Huddled and hurrying to get home. Perhaps kick his paws up. Watch a show. Have a bear. Scratch an itch.. For Nick however, those tense shoulders weren't the symptom of the breeze nipping at him as he shuffled down the street. They were caused by a horde of thoughts thundering through his mind. Of a thousand troubles weighing him down. Of one little bunny's fate, resting on his shoulders.

Needing an escape, his eyes found their way to the darkness above. That jet black ceiling of a sky. The endless nothingness seemed so solid, as though one could touch it and feel how heavy it was. That sky had seen millions of years pass. It was a thought daunting enough to give him a fair amount of pause; definitely enough to make him stop trudging through town. Drawing a slow, deep breath, he could feel the chill air fill his lungs. He needed to sort this out. He'd jumped - or rather stumbled over - the first hurdle. No doubt there would be reservations and doubts from the ZPD. He'd stretched it out time-wise. He'd gotten progressively worse to be around and work with over the course of roughly a week. It had been draining enough that he'd not done much else but sleep when he got home. Mostly nightmares. Some good dreams though. Enough to keep him going. That's what he had to do, no? It was done, he was out of the ZPD. No one outside of the ZPD would know he and Judy are friends. Were friends? No, are. Are friends. Despite everything.. Or because of everything. Or everything, is because they're friends.

A sigh followed a quick grunt as he continued down the street. He had to get his act together. He needed to get to Alexei. From what he'd heard in the past and from what he'd gathered on his own now, there was no doubt that the wolf in question had his fingers in enough criminality to warrant putting him away for life. That was a given. However, the trouble was that Alexei had 'friends' in just the right places. Circumstancial evidence, witness reports, heresay - it never stuck. That wolf was no courtroom virgin, he'd been on the stand plenty; and he'd always walked away a free mammal.

However, no amount of judge friends could keep a criminal on the street who has been caught red-handed. Who can be proven, without doubt, to be a criminal. Video and audio was the way to go. If he could just somehow slip into Alexei's empire - unnoticed - and catch him on tape doing or saying something that proves how much of a criminal he is.. A small twitch of a smile ghosted over his lips. Taking down a notorious criminal on his own was absolutely terrifying; and sort of exciting. He could enjoy it, if it hadn't come with such high stakes.

Taking a sharp turn, Nick then pushed a door open to enter a pub. It was a dingy old place. Dimly lit. Dust in the corners. Dodgy guests. The atmosphere was heavy with agressive tension, cigarette smoke and dark chatter. His eyes stung slightly as he moved about in the somewhat toxic air, sneaking past tables and slipping through crowds. Finding a small empty table in the corner, he took a seat and put up shop. Good old game swindling. It was second nature to him. These pebbles, these cards, they bent to his will. It was the most lucrative form of magic. The trick was to let them win, just a little. No one likes an unbeatable game after all. _They_ have to decide to play again, you can't force them. Confidence is key. Geneoristy is rewarded with answers.

Every night, Nick went to different places to hustle and ask questions. He'd laugh with them, comfort them, offer them drinks and advice. In return, he got answers. Just not the right ones. Sure, he got snippets of general information about places where general illegal dealings went on, and that's what happens when you ask fairly open wide questions. Too straight forward and the wrong folks find out, garanteed. It was slow, tideous work. Ocassionally his mind would drift off and wonder what Judy was up to. It usually didn't last long, as the thought was tainted by shame of how he'd treated her. He needed to move on. He needed answers.

The fourth night rolled in and Nick found himself in the corner of a rather large and busy bar. It was fairly well-kept for this part of town. These neighbourhoods weren't the nice ones. Barely half decent. Here criminals bled out in the gutter and muggings were simply every day happenings. This pub was in slum territory. The other places he'd been to hadn't exactly been fine-dining, but this had an entirely different air about this. There was suspicion everywhere. Vixens and lionesses served drinks and flirted with the customers. Money changed hands without drinks being involved. Eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere. However, he had to endure. They didn't know him. Hopefully.

"Hey there young lady, fancy a game?" Nick asks with cheer, gesturing towards a small grey vixen with a sour look. She'd been observing him the past three games with customers. Him, not the games. That was key. He'd take any lead by now; once this was over, he never wanted to see his old bag of swindlers' games again. "Come now, don't be shy. I don't bite." There was a tease in his voice and he could see her roll her eyes. At least she got up from her seat, that's something. it was a fairly grim looking vixen, with ripped jeans, white top and leather vest with a popped collar. Not at all like the other vixen in the place who were quite dolled up and presented as eye-candy for drooling males. She took a seat by the table, firmly folding her arms on it. She was a tad short for the chair she was sitting on, but somehow he felt like he really shouldn't comment on that. "What's your bet?"

"Fiver." If he wasn't absolutely sure he'd never seen her before, he couldn't sworn she had a grudge or something against him with that cold, piercing look she was giving him. There was even a hint of a crinkle over the ridge of her nose. Contempt? Disgust? He couldn't tell. Maybe it was simply her resting expression. The vixen had shifted to place a crumpled and slightly torn fiver on the desk. Nick resisted a chuckle and instead drew a breath. "Hookay, a fiver it is!" Nick moved to place the cups on the table, presenting a pebble. "Keep an eye on this little bugger," Nick tapped the pebble with a cheeky smile. "And you'll earn yourself ten bucks."

His hands moved quick as a breeze, eyes locked on his customer. There was no need to look at the cups, he'd done this so many times before, it was all muscle-memory. The customers were always too busy trying to keep track of that one cup that they simply couldn't notice the pebble switching cups, or disappearing completely.

"So," He started as he'd finally set the shuffling cups down, presenting them to her. "Which one will it be?" The wide smile vanished in the blink of an eye as the vixen help up two fingers, the pebble lodged between them, and a quite intensely irritated look in her lime eyes.

"I don't like it when folks try to trick me." Putting the pebble down on the wooden surface of the table, she flicked a finger into it, skipping it over to Nick, over the edge and onto his lap before leaning in ever so slightly, her voice hushed. "And there's a lot bigger canines out there, who like it even less." Sliding off her chair, the small vixen headed out the door, her bushy tail swaying from side to side.

Nick watched her leave, his ear twitching at the sound of the bell at the door jingling as she stepped outside. His eyes followed her through the window, ears perked, and it was only when he almost tumbled off his seat that he leapt down, pulled on his jacket and headed out the door, not bothering to gather up neither the fiver nor his swindlers' bag.

Outside the air was brisk and the wind rather strong. Squinting against the wind as headed down the street, he wore his ears flat against his head. She took a turn. Slithering around the same corner, he only just caught glimpse of her hand in a passerby's pocket. Another turn. Rounding the corner, he froze for a moment. Gone. Rushing to the next alley, he peered down it, relieved to see that bushy tail slip around another corner. His paws barely made any noise as he quickly made his way down the alley, keeping up with her while keeping out of sight. Even as she entered a 24-hours grocery store, he kept up. If he hadn't been so focused on keeping his eyes on her, he probably would have felt silly, ducking under stacks of bananas and hiding behind shelves. She hadn't noticed him yet. Good. The vixen was helping herself to all sorts of food - amazing what she could fit in that vest of hers.

Outside again. He could feel his eyelid twitch as she screeched a claw against the side of a car while sipping her stolen juice. Not a care in the world. it didn't seem as though she had a plan with where she was going. Neither did he, really. It was just that phrase. Bigger canines. What did she know? Did she know anything? Was it a warning or a threat? He had to know.

Picking up his pace, it was getting more difficult to keep up. She'd practically race down the street, swiftly diving into alleyways. Nick is forced to run in order to keep up. In and out of view. Sudden turns. Climbing over fenced off alleyways. Narrow streets.

As he's just about to climb another fence, his chest heaving from the strenuous chase, he'd stopped dead in his tracks as a figure thumps down in front of him. He could feel a pressure and tug around his neck as he'd forcefully yanked down to find himself eye-to-very-much-angrier-eye with the grey vixen. A low rumbling growl echoed in the narrow alley and he could feel a sharp claw up against the soft underside of his jaw. Nicks' hands instinctively went up to the typical 'I surrender' stance, eyes wide as he stared at the angry fox.

"Keep followin' me and we'll **both** find out if I can jam my finger straight up through here into your mouth." A silence fell, as if she was waiting for a response. Her ears were pulled back, her tail twitching irritably. "What the **hell** are you followin' me 'round for? Speak!"

As much as it was tempting to simply pull out an easy-to-reach sly comment, he had to play this smart. Letting out an almost unimpressed snort, he gave her as stern a look he could muster. "You probably want to put that finger down, miss. I'm an undercover police officer, and I've got plenty of evidence to put you behind bars if I feel like it."

The vixen frowned in an irritated, yet confused kind of disbelief as she let go of him and all but pushed him away from her. "There's no fucking way." Crossing her arms over her chest, she shifted her weight onto one paw. "Proof. **Now**." There was a soft patting heard from her tapping her paw against the concrete below.

Nick huffed a bit as if insulted that she wouldn't believe him. He opened his jacket just enough to slip a hand into the inner pocket, holding out his badge for her to see. He'd kept it as a keepsake of sorts. Probably against the rules, but what did he care. Dishonorable discharge and all.. Not officially, but, still. Officially it was just a normal discharge. A good, old, normal 'you're fired'. "Happy now? I **am** a cop." He put the badge away again, zipping the inner pocket closed. Better safe than sorry, he didn't want to lose it.

It seemed to convince her well enough. "Alright. So, what do you want. To, you know, _not_ feel like putting be behind bars." Even if it was slight, she'd relaxed a bit. A cop was just a cop after all, and not a crazy stalker or murderer. Not that she'd ever had a stalker, but still. She'd heard enough stories to last a lifetime.

"How about your name." It just slipped out. That, was not his priority. Perhaps that was just his mouth telling his brain he found it a hassle to refer to her as 'the angry grey vixen' in his mind.

"Abigail." She raised an eyebrow at Nick, looking quite indifferent. What was even a cop doing out here, and why was an undercover one bothering with her? Perhaps all her endevours had started catching the wrong kind of attention... Which was any.

"Nick. Nice to meet you, Abigail." All he got for that was a look that said she thought the exact opposite. Well, _she_ had been the one to stare at him for half an hour, so it was basically her own fault she was there with him right now. "You said something about bigger canines." Nick observed her closely, his tone a bit more serious. "Were you threatening me?" Watching her with narrow eyes and slicked back ears, his tail sweeped along the concrete and gravel of the alley.

Abigail shook her head with a roll of her eyes, a light snort leaving her. "No you idiot. I was warning you." A quick shrug. "Ya know, fox to fox." She didn't look at him as she spoke, instead she was strangely focused on a grafitti tag on one of the walls.

Nick threw a glance at the tag on the wall before turning his focus back to her again. "Do you know Alexei Volkov?" He took a small step towards her, almost looming over the smaller fox. "It is, _very_ important that I find him." There was a darkness in his voice even he wasn't used to. In the moment, it felt like he could do anything to pry information from this mammal. If she withheld information, she was an obstacle he needed to clear.

"What, _know_ him?" Abigail seemed appalled by the thought. "He's a fucking maniac! I don't run with that. And I sure as hell ain't a snitch." She moved to walk past the other fox, only to have him step into her way. Sending a glare up at him, she snorted. "I don't, know him. Now get out of my way."

"But you know of him. Only someone involved can be a snitch!" By now Nick was holding out his arms to keep her from walking past him. "You know, we have really tiny jail cells over at the ZPD. I think you'd fit _pretty_ snugly." He couldn't help but smirk as she gave him a deadly glare. That struck a nerve, apparently. Almost amusing.

"Look." She crossed her arms over her chest again, a disgruntled look on her face. "I met him once or twice. Happened to be nearby, sort of. He's a real piece of work." Her arms slipped down, her hands burying themselves in the pockets of her vest. It was getting a bit cold - this getup wasn't especially warm. "He was chattin' 'bout how he was moving to Zootopia, how it was a viable market, or target, or whatever. Probably both." Abigail crossed her arms again, not able to decide which position was warmer. "Owns a couple of shady businesses. That's it. That's all I know, alright?"

Nick seemed as though he didn't know if he ought to be squaling with joy for his first real lead, or terrified over the fact he's just found his first real lead. It was a bit conflicting, and it showed on his face. Snapping himself out of a whirlpool of worry and excitement, he looked down at Abigail again. "Where is he?" There was urgency in his voice. "Where, is he? Where is his business? What is he doing? I need more information!" Met with silence, a quiet snarl left him. "We have mouse-sized cells and I _swear_ to all that is holy that I will **cram** you into one!"

"Easy chief! Easy!" Abigail's hands had gone up in surrender, her sour expression exchanged for a more uneasy one. She didn't like being trapped, and the thought of a mouse-sized jail cell was enough to make her quasy. "I, know a guy. I do some work for him. He oughta know more." Once the other fox had relaxed, she felt enough at ease to light herself a cigarette. This was too much stress for one evening. Even heists were more relaxing than this bloody circus. Taking a drag, she sighed out the smoke through her nose. "But you ain't getting no information for free. You gotta work for it." Looking him over closely, she then raised an eyebrow with the tiniest hint of a smirk. "Also, you can't go 'round as Nick bloody Wilde, the _only_ fox cop in town. You need a new identity. And a new outfit."

Nick frowned as he looked down at himself, stroking down his jacket and patterned shirt and tie. "I suppose I am a bit easily recognizeable." He zipped up his jacket. "New clothes it is. As for the identity.." He thought about it, scratching the back of his head before perking up with a smile. "How about Luke Pawton?"


	4. A Lucky Break

It felt like nothing was going anywhere. It'd been only a day since Nick left the ZPD and work had been extremely busy. It was almost as though she had an even heavier workload than before. Perhaps by design. Nevertheless, she needed to do her job, and she needed to do it well. Investigate vandalism and threats. Easy as pie. _Right?_  
She'd arrive hopeful at the house of a threat-receiver and come away feeling forlorn. A lead on the vandalism would look promising but end up vaporising before her eyes. No headway what so ever. Judy kept trudging through interview after interview, asking all the right questions, following all the right leads yet getting nowhere. Even hearsay lead to dead ends. Gossip was old news. No one _truly_ knew anything. She for _sure_ didn't know anything. Nothing useful, at least.

Judy couldn't be entirely sure if there truly were no leads, or if she simply wasn't capable of digging them out when her mind was constantly working on Nicks' case. Tapping the butt of the carrot pen against her chin, her eyes fixated on the notepad in front of her. There was a small drawing of her fox friend with a whole load of question marks around him. Wearing a most serious expression, Judy strolled into the ZPD. Past Clawhauser who couldn't quite find the right words. Through a cafeteria of fellow officers, all unsure of how to greet her. All the way to her office, where she shut the door behind her and took a seat. The desk was crowded with reports, crime scene photos, photos of victims and their statements. Everything came along with little post-it notes where she'd scribbled down her thoughts and comments. Most were useless. Covered in question marks. So many question marks, so many questions.

"Ugh, I can't do this..!" Despite her best efforts, Judy simply couldn't focus on the task at hand. Dragging her palms down her face, she let out a frustrated groan. "I can't _do_ this." Palms still attached to her face, she was pulling down her lower eyelids. Another groan escaped her before she sucked in a sharp breath, hands zipping over to grab the edge of her desk. "I need a **break**. _Yeah_ , that's what I need." There was a bit of cheer in her voice as she seemed eager to convince herself that it was a-okay to ditch her current assignment. "Just a _tiny_ one. No one will notice. Right?" Straightening out her clothes, she strained a smile. "Right." Throwing a glance at the desk, she drew a deep breath through her nose. A short pause. _Hesitation_. Then with a shrug and a small noise of dismissal, she was out the door.

It was already late afternoon, but Judy knew that the ZPD technical analyst rarely went home before dark. His office window would glow from the computer screens and lack of other light sources, and one could hear the frantic tapping of keyboard keys and speedy clicks of the computer mouse through the door. There was a sign on his door proudly presenting "Kyle Filcher - Tech Wiz". Apparently it'd been changed once in celebration of his work aiding in the capture of a notorious crime syndicate, and no one had bothered to change it back to say "Kyle Filcher - Technical Analyst". Smiling at the sign, Judy then tried the handle on the door. Frowning, it was apparently locked this time around. Knocking gently, she kept watching the door. "Kyle? You in there?"

"Oh, Miss H- Judy!" Kyle seemed surprised to see her as he rounded the corner. He'd apparently been on his way back to his office after a quick stop at the cafeteria. He was carrying two large iced coffees with straws and had a rather puzzled look on his face, blinking a bit to clear his mind. "What, are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working the leads on the vandalism..?"

"I am!" Judy smiled widely. Was she trying to convince him or herself? It wasn't obvious. "Or, well, not right _now_ ," She motioned at a portion of air which apparently represented the present. "but I am." Swiftly slipping her hands in behind her back and lacing them together, she kept that wide smile. " _Soo_ ," Weighing back on her feet a bit, she glanced curiously at the two cups in his hands. "You expecting company, Mr Tech Wiz?"

Kyle's nose seemed to shift from slate to a dark maroon as he fumbled to find words in a flustered manner. "Ah, well, no, and- tech wiz, that was just,- this is just,- I, don't really, get company, I just, _really_ like iced coffee." The raccoon seemed a bit deflated, holding the two coffee cups close to his chest, embarrassed and staring at the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Judy's paws instinctively went up to cover her mouth. Her big, flapping mouth. "I'm sorry Kyle, I didn't mean to make it sound like that..!" Her ears had dropped and she frowned. Great. On top of being incompetent at her job, she'd made someone sad.

"You can have one if you want though." Kyle offered in passing as he shuffled up to the door, balancing the two cups on one arm while unlocking the door and opening it, letting it slide open. He couldn't muster up enough confidence to look at her. Instead, he moved over to his desk and took a seat, rolling his eyes at himself. Why would she want a cup of iced coffee. With _him_ of all mammals.

Judy followed him into his office and then smiled, grabbing one of the cups and contently sipping it. "Thanks!" Her ears had perked back up, and she was glad to see that the raccoons' demeanor shifted as well, seeming a bit happier. A bit more uplifted. "How's everything going?"

Kyle took a great big sip from his iced coffee and swallowed, turning his computer on and watched the screen flicker to life. "It's going, well, a _bit_ slow. Nick's not exactly an on-the-grid kind of mammal." He smiled as he could hear Judy's chuckle of agreement. " _But_ , it's coming together, piece by piece. You know Finnick, right?" Throwing a glance at Judy, he caught her nodding, sipping from her iced coffee, and he turned back to the screen, pulling up a variety of windows with mazes of information. To an untrained eye, it was just several massive walls of tiny text and numbers. "Well, before he ran with Finnick, I've found old reports of him being arrested with a badger named Rufus Moundler. Apparently they were fined for swindling a couple of times."

Judy rolled her eyes briefly. "Has that fox _ever_ done anything legal before he met me?" She caught Kyle's confused side-glance and snickered a bit. "Rhetorical question." Judy added with a quick smile before taking another sip of iced coffee, a concentrated look on her face. "So, what about this, Rufus guy?"

"Well it _seems_ he got arrested for attempted murder through arson."

"Yikes." The word sounded through a sharp breath through her teeth, her ears dropping down behind her. They flipped back up again as she stared at Kyle with wide eyes. "You don't think **Nick** had anything to to with that, do you?" There was urgency in her voice. Attempted murder. Arson! It didn't sound like Nick, but if he'd been running with this badger..

"I, I don't know, Judy." He frowned, a bit uncertain if he wanted to start his next sentence. "In the reports, Mr. Moundler _did_ say that he worked with a fox." He could see the distress on Judy's face and he quickly held up his paws as though to stop her from thinking her next thought. "But! _But_! That fox was named Pib! Not Nick. So, there's that!" Kyle offered a bit of a quivering smile, not wanting to see the bunny upset. He wasn't great at dealing with emotions, especially not those belonging to others. He was just always such a klutz and could never quite say the right thing when someone was upset.

Judy's initial alarm had simmered down to a focused contemplation. "Nick's middle name is Piberius." Her gaze returned to the yet again worried looking raccoon. "Nicholas Piberius Wilde." It would make sense for him to go by a fake name like Pib. It wasn't certain, but it was too much of a coincidence. She'd pulled out her notepad by now, scribbling down some thoughts. It was troubling to think that Nick could have been involved in such serious crimes. If he had, he should've told her. They were friends, weren't they? Or was there even more he'd kept hidden from her? Sighing deeply, she looked back at Kyle. The sight was enough to get a laugh out of her. Wide eyes, ears back, as if caught stealing cookies and worrying about his punishment. "Now _why_ are you looking like that for?" She gave him a wide smile. "You look as if it's _your_ fault Nick might be involved!"

"Sorry." He blurted out, taking a deep breath in an attempt to relax. "I just, wish I had better news for you. But, I don't."

Judy kept her smile and gave him a pat on the back. "Don't worry about it." Flipping to the next page of her notepad, she looked at him expectantly. "What was the name of the badger again?"

"Rufus Moundler."

Judy paused for a moment. Her forehead scrunched up in thought and she nibbled a bit on her carrot pen. The name sounded oddly familiar. "I think I've scheduled to interview a 'Moundler'." The words weren't louder than a mumble. Her volume picked up in the next sentence as she excitedly leaned over the desk, staring at the computer. "Could you cross-check the name Moundler with the list of threat-receivers and vandalism victims I got?"

Kyle blinked as Judy had gotten a bit in the way, looming over half of his keyboard. Reaching for it while trying not to touch her, Kyle swiftly danced his fingers over the keyboard, bringing up the list and highlighting one of the names. "Polly Moundler. Apparently she's Rufus Moundlers' younger sister."

"Polly Moundler." Judy gasped in delight and leapt back, bouncing slightly from foot to foot. "Polly Moundler, she's a **badger**! She's his **sister**! And I've scheduled to _interview_ her in the morning!" Grinning widely, excited by this new lead and for the moment forgetting the implications of Nick involved in attempted murder, she rushed to the door and out, only to poke her head in a second later. "Thank you _so_ much Kyle! Keep digging, you're doing a great job!"

Bursting into her office and kicking the door shut behind her, she couldn't help but allow herself to squeal happily. "I've got a **lead**!" Smiling widely, Judy yanked the bottom drawer of her desk open. Pulling out her personal file on Nick, she slapped it down onto the desk, on top of all the work she ought to be focusing on instead. "You _sly fox_ , I'll find out what you're up to, just you _wait_." There was a cheeky tone to her voice as she teased the photo of Nick which she'd taped to the file. Following this lead, no one would know her focus wasn't the vandalism and threats. _A lucky brea_ k. Perhaps it's the magic of her rabbits' feet finally kicking in. The thought made her snort out a giggle. Taking a deep breath, she sighed with a smile and sank into her seat. Observing the file in front of her, the smile soon faded and she leaned over the desk to begin writing.

 _"Connected to Rufus Moundler._

 _Possibly involved in attempted murder and arson."_

Grim words written about a wonderful friend. It felt surreal. Like a bad mystery book. She could only hope that _this_ story would have a happy ending.

The next day. It was a bright and sunny one. The air was still crisp from the cold of night. The walkway was cool against her paws as she stood in the shade, looking up at the building she was just about to enter. It was a fairly simple neighbourhood, one of the modest ones in Downtown Zootopia, bordering against Tundra Town. The house was humble and quaint. Perhaps in need of a bit of TLC. The paint on the window frames was peeling off. There was a thin layer of moss growing along the bottom of the yellow-painted wooden fasade. The garden needed a bit more tending to. That apple tree over there sure needed a trim. Not to mention the tulips, they needed a lot more sun than what they were currently getting, huddled in between a rickety old shed and tall wooden fence. Shaking her head, Judy let out a snort. She couldn't focus on botanical issues! There were far more important things that she needed to focus on. Giving herself two quick slaps on the cheeks with both hands, she then patted down her uniform, drew a deep breath, pulled a smile and rung the doorbell.

Her ears twitched as she could hear several locks clicking open. The rattle of a chain lock. Then the door was cracked open. "Hello?" Judy tried curiously, peering into the crack, laying her eyes on a small female badger. Smiling as gently as she could, her voice shifted to a very mellow and kind tone. "Hii, hello, are you by any chance Polly Moundler?" Her ears had lowered so that she wouldn't appear too energetic. This badger seemed a bit skittish. "I'm Officer Hopps, here about the threats you had received..? You should have received a letter about it.." They would have called, but Ms. Moundler did apparently not own a phone.

The badger frowned worriedly and then threw two quick glances around Judy, to check if she was alone. Then she somewhat reluctantly opened the door. "Come in." Her voice was but a whisper, as if she wasn't used to talking to others. Stepping to the side, she opened the door just enough for Judy to slip in. Closing the door, she promptly locked every single lock again. Even the chain lock. "I thought the ZPD just saw the letters as bad pranks." Polly moved to put on a kettle on her gas stove. She was perfectly average in every way - she'd blend into any crowd. Nothing about her stood out, except her demeanor. All the curtains were drawn, yet she moved to check that they were covering the windows properly. She seemed anxious. Worried.

" _Well_ , since there's been a string of threats by now, we're taking a second look into things. Pranks or not, these letters are causing a _lot_ of mammals distress." Judy explained, taking a seat on the old-fashioned and surprisingly comfortable sofa. A smile pulled at her lips as she patted the cushion and lightly bounced in her seat. Very comfortable. Her nose twitched as a cup of tea was presented to her. "Oh, thank you!" Smiling, she took a sip. It was fragrant and very pleasing. Perhaps orange blossom. A hint of vanilla? Perhaps. Regardless, it was a welcome treat. Looking over to Polly, who had her own rather large cup of tea, Judy placed the tea plate and cup in her lap. "May I see these letters you've received?"

Polly gave a nod, putting down her cup on the coffee table. She'd stored the letters in an old trunk in the corner of the living room. Gathering them up, she then returned, took her seat in the arm chair and handed the papers to Judy. "I don't know what good they'll do, but I kept them. Figured they'd at least make good kindle in a pinch.."

Judy giggled at the comment and was happy to see the badger smile for the first time, even if it was brief. "Thank you." Putting her cup and plate down, Judy shuffled through the letters. They weren't written, but instead put together rather attentively with cut out letters. Not even big ones from headlines, but instead ones from articles. It'd be practically impossible to track who'd written these, unless the paper was from some rare, super specific source. A theory she highly doubted. There were several letters, all most grim. How cruel some could be, threatening someone else's life like this. Threatening to gut them when they sleep, skin them alive.. Judy's nose crinkled up in disgust. These weren't pranks. These were serious. Most importantly, these were all signed. Not with a name or company, but with a phrase.

 _The sin of one is the sin of all._

Sin. Polly was related to someone who had most definitely sinned. "Polly, could I ask you about your brother, Rufus?" Judy posed the question carefully, not wishing to overstep her bounds. Polly seemed rather sad at the mention of her brother. "I'm sorry if it's inappropriate-"

"No, it's okay." Pollys voice was mellow and soft, her words spoken through a sigh as she stirred her tea. "Rufus has always been a troubled soul," she began, never lifting her gaze from the swirling amber liquid in her porcelain cup. "always getting into all sorts of trouble. Never cared much for others. Then he started hanging out with the wrong crowd, and things just.. Went downhill from there." Polly drew another sigh, taking a sip from the now quivering cup of tea. It was difficult, talking about her brother. Even after so long, it hurt so much. "Even though we lived in the same house, Rufus just told me vague bits and pieces about what he was doing. But I'm neither blind nor dumb. I _knew_ he wasn't just doing the odd hustle. I _knew_ he wasn't just picking pockets in the streets for some quick cash." Putting down the cup, she folded her hands in her lap, finally looking at Judy. "My brother was a criminal, and I never did _anything_ to stop him."

Judy was taken aback by her comment and it took a moment before she could react, a determined look in her eyes. "Polly, this is _not_ your fault. What Rufus did, the arson, it was **his** choice. You _have_ to remember that." Polly didn't seem convinced, and Judy couldn't blame her. Somehow, she felt the same way about Nick. Why hadn't she done anything as soon as he'd changed? Had she been so preoccupied with hoping he'd sort it out himself, that she'd forgotten how to be a proper friend? Reminded of her own investigation, Judy inched closer to the edge of her seat. "Did Rufus ever talk about a fox named Pib?"

Polly searched her memories for a moment before nodding lightly. "Yes, actually he did. It was quite some years ago by now. Rufus had been looking for another pair of paws to.. _Help_ him, for quite some time." Polly sighed at the discomfort of remembering her brothers' criminal affairs. "Anyway.. He came home one day, he was excited. Said he'd found a new partner, a clever fox named Pib. I even saw him a couple of times, when he came by the house. Only briefly, Rufus didn't like house-calls, because I was there. But he and Pib seemed to really get along. Thick as thieves..." The last sentence was just a displeased mumble. She took another sip of tea, her trembling hands having calmed down. "A few years back, Rufus was talking about testing what the fox was really made of. He was anxious, I could tell it was something big. He'd talk about how he was finally getting out of here, how this was his ticket out of the gutter."

"But don't you live pretty nicely?" Judy looked around the cosy little living room, ears perked in curiosity. She looked back at Polly as the badger let out an ever so light laugh.

"Well _now_ I do. Not back then. I've worked very hard to get where I am." She smiled, relaxing more and more in the bunny's company. "So, he was excited about this big thing he was going to pull off. Said he'd finally get to work under ' _the blue volf_ ', I think he called it. Rufus was to eager to make a name for himself... If only he'd chosen the right way to do it. But.. He chose infamy." Polly shook her head in disappointment, taking another sip of tea. "A few months after that, Rufus was in jail convicted for attempted murder and arson. I never heard of or saw that fox again." She'd sped through the sentence. It was said much like how one would rip off a bandage.

"This has been, **extremely** helpful, Ms. Moundler." Judy smiled widely, gathering up the letters in her hands and folding them neatly. "Thank you, _so_ much for your help. And for the tea! It was delicious." Standing up, she offered her hand to the badger. "And don't worry, we'll find whoever sent you these horrible letters. They'll answer for what they've done."

Polly took Judy's hand, giving it a gentle shake. "I hope you do, Officer Hopps. I hope you do."

Travelling back to the ZPD, Judy had a lot on her mind. _The blue wolf_. It had to be a specific mammal, not a group or organisation. Rufus had done what he did in order to impress said mammal.. Or well, wolf, it was most likely a wolf. _Blue_ wolf? Perhaps blue was referring to eye color. That would narrow down the search a smidgen at least. She had to sort this all out. Nick had really been involved. Not just a little. Not just by accident. It just made no sense. Nick had never struck her as a violent fox. What was he up to? She had to get to the bottom of this, pronto. Perhaps Kyle could find something.

Judy was in such a hurry through the ZPD lobby that she didn't register the sound of footsteps around the corner, nearly knocking straight into their new press manager. "Ah! Oh gosh, Ms. Howell, I'm so sorry!" Judy raced her eyes across the albino wolf to make sure she hadn't made the other drop anything. "Are you alright? Sorry, I was just in such a hurry,"

"Don't worry about it Officer Hopps." The warm tone of the wolf's voice put Judy at visible ease. "I quite honestly am half to blame, my head's not been on straight since all the commotion of Officer Wilde's departure." Smiling down at the little rabbit, she held her paperwork close to her chest. "I **do** hope you can sort this whole mess out, Judy. It would be such a shame if Nick didn't come back."

Judy's ears perked up and she felt rather warm inside. Encouragement. Grinning, she saluted the wolf. "Don't worry, Rosalind! You'll see, I'll have this all sorted out in a jiffy!" Feeling rejuvenated, Judy headed on down towards Kyle's office. At least she had some mammals eager to see Nick back where he belonged. As a part of the team. She wasn't the _only_ one who found this whole situation odd. With renewed energy, Judy all but kicked the door to Kyle's office open. It banged back against the wall and startled him enough to almost spill his cup of iced coffee. Gasping, Judy grabbed the door and quickly, yet gently shut it behind her. Giving the bewildered raccoon an apologetic smile, she laced her hands together behind her back. "Heh. Sorry about that."

Kyle raised an eyebrow at her, looking a bit confused. "Is this going to become a habit of yours? You _can_ knock, you know." There was a slight and gentle tease in his voice.

Judy let out a huff of a chuckle, pawing dismissively at the air as she approached his desk. "Oh _please_! I knocked last time, remember? You weren't even in then." Judy grinned and sat on the arm rest of his computer chair, locking eyes with him. Her expression was intense. "You _have_ to find out who 'the blue wolf' is. That wolf might be the key to finding out what's going on with Nick."

Kyle's ears flicked back, flattening against his head as he stared up at her, a bit caught of guard by how close she was. Had she no sense of personal space? "Ehh.." Swallowing tightly, Kyle then sucked in a sharp breath through her nose, his eyes diverting to the screen, trying to find some words. "That's, not a whole lot to go on, Judy, it, might be a bit difficult to find anything at all, or, I find too much, and, it's all a tangled mess, and then I can't give you anything useful, and, and-"

"Relax," She said with a laugh. "Gosh, all that iced coffee is making you so high-strung. Have you ever tried tea? It's supposed to be calming." Judy smiled at the raccoon, holding onto the back of his seat to keep her balance on the arm rest. "Well, Polly said 'the blue wolf' in some weird accent, like that was how Rufus had said it." She frowned, mimicking accents wasn't exactly her forte. But she could always give it a try. "Zhe blu wolfe- no, that's not right." Humming in thought, she then gave it another try. "The blue volf- yeah that's more like it! It definitely had more of a v sound than a w one." She gave Kyle an excited look, eager to know what he thought of the accent.

Kyle frowned, turning his eyes to the screen again. "Well, I _suppose_ it could be Sibearian."

"Sibearian! Wow. So far away. Kyle, could you search the phrase? Extend your search from Zootopia to include Sibearian, Scandiclawian and Eurate countries as well? For good measure. We don't want to miss anything!"

"Judy, that's, a **very** wide net to search..!" Kyle felt his nose heat up as he could see Judy only inches away from him through the corner of his eyes. Clenching his jaw shut, eyes widely staring at the computer screen, his entire body was stiff lika a statue. Personal space. Oh gosh. No personal space. Why didn't she have any sense of personal space?

"Please, please, _please_ Kyle!" She laced her hands together as if praying to him. Which in a way, she was. At least begging. "This could be the **only** one who can help us find out what's going on..!"

Kyle sucked in a deep, far too deep breath and exhaled it with a bit of a squeak. "Okay!" He swallowed. Gosh his throat was dry. It felt like his entire face was on fire. "Okay, okay, I'll, get onto it right away."

"Thank you!" Judy wrapped her arms around the awkward raccoon in a quick but almost choke-hold hug around the neck before hurrying towards the door. "I'll be back!"

Hopping through the corridors, it felt good. This was getting somewhere. Her investigation wasn't a complete failure. Now she had another task in front of her; ask follow-up questions to only those who had received threats similar to the ones delivered to Polly.


End file.
